My new book! It’s ready!

Gather round, everyone. I have an announcement to make. Ready? Feeling gathered?

After 13 years (or maybe even more - the timeline is a little fuzzy because 13 years ago my kids were very young and I was very tired a lot of the time) my new children’s book is finally ready! 

Why did it take 13 years to publish a children’s book you might ask?

Let me paint the picture for you

In 2011, I was fairly new to the worlds of personal development and spiritual growth. I knew a lot about professional development and had a desire to become a better person but that was about it.

I had recently invested in a year-long program with Peak Potentials and through that, I (surprisingly) ended up with my first life coach. (I didn’t even know that was a thing until - poof - I had one!)

That coach introduced me to things like meditation and setting intentions. I diligently got up at 5am every morning for an hour of going within. Why so early? Because I was trying to get up earlier than my son, Oakley, who was 2 or 3 at the time.

Did it work? No. Oakley had some sort of radar and so as soon as I stealthily snuck downstairs in the darkness, he would appear at the door with a bright smile on his face, climb into my lap, suck his thumb and stroke my eyebrows (a weird but adorable thing he did when he was little). 

Let’s just say I got a lot of practice meditating with distractions. 

(I love that there's a photo of distracted meditating. Clearly, I'm not the only one.)

Thanks to my coach, I also started journaling. One day, as I began to journal, something just poured through me. It was kind of a poem. On my next coaching call, I shared it with my coach and he was so excited. He said that it was profound and uplifting and some other nice things that I no longer remember. 

I told him that I thought it could be a children’s book and he agreed. “Send me a copy when it’s published!” he exclaimed. 

Little did we know that day would come in the distant future of 2024. 

I’m no longer in contact with that coach but I’m excited to share the news with you 🙂

So why did it take so long?

For one thing, I didn’t know how to go about publishing a children’s book. For another, I didn’t yet see myself as a writer or someone who put books out there. It wasn’t that I doubted my ability to do so. It’s more like I hadn’t yet embraced that part of myself. 

We had a children’s book at the time by Jada Pinkett-Smith that had photographs of kids rather than illustrations. I really liked that idea because my poem/eventual book was about the joys of being active as a family. 

I thought that if kids could see other kids in the book being active, they would want to get their bodies moving too.

Maybe a year after writing the poem/eventual book, I mobilized myself enough to organize a photo shoot. My sister was fortunately training in photography at that time so we got together with another family at Riley Park on a beautiful, sunny summer’s day and took all sorts of action shots. 

They turned out great! And then they sat in a file on my computer for another 10 years. I’d look at them once in a while and then go do other things. 

That brings us to 2023. I’d written and self-published my first book (not a children’s book) called How Ugly Awkward Dancing Changes Everything. That definitely helped me feel more like a writer. I’d also been writing this weekly blog consistently for over two years. 

In addition to that success, I had my first children’s book published by a local publisher. After years of searching, I’d finally found an illustrator (a very talented high school student who my husband had taught in junior high) and ta-da! What Makes a Dancer made its debut. 

At this point, I knew I could write books, get them published and have a positive impact on people’s lives. 

Last year, I asked my illustrator if they could do something with the photos. They had the most magnificent idea of turning them into a kind of scrapbook experience. Then, I got my sister to take photos of her kids to add to the mix, which was super cool because they were living in Australia at the time. 

What I love is that although my kids are significantly older than their cousins, in the book, they are all little kids. I don’t know why but that warms my heart. There is something so satisfying about seeing them all as young children within the pages. It’s kind of like I messed with time. (Muah ha ha ha.)

The other part of the story is that along the way, my daughter, Zoe, who is now 18, and I decided that we should start our own publishing company because, between the two of us, we can do:

>ghostwriting

>book writing coaching

>editing

>illustrating

>cover design

>formatting

>getting the book set up to sell on Amazon and Ingram Spark

>launch party planning

That means that this is the very first book that we published ourselves! Hooray! 

All that to say that Helping You Fly (by Quarter House Publishing) is now available. Double hooray!

It’s a lovely little book about the power of being active as a family and how that brings us closer together. It also teaches about our connection with nature and how when we move our bodies with joy, we experience more love, energy and delight. 

If you’d like to get your hands on a copy, either for yourself or as a gift for some little ones in your life, you can use one of the links below. 

Click here for Amazon.ca in Canada

Click here for Amazon.com in the US

Click here for Amazon in the UK

Click here for Amazon in Australia

For any other country, you can go to Amazon and just search up the title. 

I feel so very amazing to have completed this project. What’s nice is that I never really stressed about it. It was more that when the next stage was ready, the tools/resources/people/ideas appeared to help make it happen. 

And that’s a wonderful way to live one's life - to just go with the flow and trust that when it’s time for next steps, it will be (relatively) easy. 

May you have a flowy and rewarding week. (Hopefully with your new copy of Helping You Fly bringing you much joy and happiness ;)

With active love and revolutionary courage,

Christina

>Creator of Courageous Self-Care

>Currently (at the time of writing) hanging out in the wilds of Red Deer, Alberta in preparation for giving sessions at the Central Alberta Teachers’ Convention

>Eyeing a tasty granola bar I got in Canmore and wondering if I eat it today or save it for tomorrow when I do my sessions… (cliffhanger - I don't know what will happen yet)

In the spirit of shameless self-promotion, I’m going to say that this week’s recommendation is my books!

There are several!

Who knew this would happen?

If only my former coach could see me now. 

And I have an author page on Amazon! 

Click here to see it on Amazon.ca

Click here to see it on Amazon.com

Plus, now that we have this publishing company, new books are on their way. 

I have two more in the works on the topic of Courageous Self-Care. I’m so excited to get those out there. I’ll keep you posted!

On the way home from teaching a yoga class last week, this song popped up in my shuffle. It made everything more beautiful - the sun on the river, the people walking down the street, the birds flying overhead. Even the crusty, dirty melting snow took on a more pleasant air thanks to Yo-Yo Ma + his cello + Bach.

Fun fact: At one point, I wanted to learn to play the cello. Then, after some careful consideration, I decided that I really just like listening to the cello. I don’t have to be the one playing it. We’ll leave that up to Yo-Yo Ma.

Enjoy this Gigue and revel in the beauty around you. 

Listen to Gigue by Bach played by Yo-Yo Ma on iTunes

Listen to Gigue by Bach played by Yo-Yo Ma on Spotify